International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia

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Statistics about international trade in goods and services, on a balance of payments and international trade basis

Reference period
March 2021
Released
4/05/2021

Key statistics

  • The seasonally adjusted balance on goods and services surplus decreased $2,021m to $5,574m in March. 
  • Goods and services credits (exports) fell $681m (2%) to $38,274m.
  • Goods and services debits (imports) rose $1,340m (4%) to $32,700m.

Main features

Key Figures, Seasonally Adjusted
  Jan-21 ($m)Feb-21 ($m)Mar-21 ($m)Feb-21 to Mar-21 ($m)Feb-21 to Mar-21 (%)
Balance on goods and services9 5277 5955 574-2 021na
 Credits (Exports of goods & services)39 48638 95538 274- 681- 2
 Debits (Imports of goods & services)-29 959-31 360-32 7001 3404

na not applicable

COVID-19

Changes in this issue

Cessation of International Merchandise Trade, Preliminary, Australia

Balance on goods and services

In seasonally adjusted terms, the balance on goods and services was a surplus of $5,574m in March 2021, a decrease of $2,021m on the surplus in February 2021.

Balance on goods and services(a), seasonally adjusted
   Jan-21 ($m)Feb-21 ($m)Mar-21 ($m)Feb-21 to Mar-21 ($m)Feb-21 to Mar-21 (%)
Balance on goods and services9 5277 5955 574-2 021na
 Total goods and services credits39 48638 95538 274- 681- 2
  Total goods credits34 27933 95733 377- 580- 2
  Total services credits5 2084 9984 897- 101- 2
 Total goods and services debits-29 959-31 360-32 7001 340 4
  Total goods debits-25 953-27 259-28 5781 3195
  Total services debits-4 007-4 101-4 123221

na not applicable
- Nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) For sign conventions, see the Explanatory notes.

Goods and services credits (exports), seasonally adjusted

Goods credits

(a) Trend series suspended from March 2019.

Goods credits, seasonally adjusted
 Jan-21 ($m)Feb-21 ($m)Mar-21 ($m)Feb-21 to Mar-21 ($m)Feb-21 to Mar-21 (%)
Total goods credits34 27933 95733 377- 580- 2
 General merchandise31 55231 05831 186128-
  Rural goods4 0594 1784 150- 28- 1
  Non-rural goods27 49326 88027 0361561
 Net exports of goods under merchanting(a)717171--
 Non-monetary gold(a)2 6562 8282 120- 708- 25

- Nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) This component is not seasonally adjusted.

Rural goods

Non-rural goods

Services credits

(a) Trend series suspended from March 2019

Services credits, seasonally adjusted
 Jan-21 ($m)Feb-21 ($m)Mar-21 ($m)Feb-21 to Mar-21 ($m)Feb-21 to Mar-21 (%)
Total services credits5 2084 9984 897- 101- 2
 Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others(a)222--
 Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.(a)555--
 Transport3093103111-
  Passenger(b)122--
  Freight(c)202020--
  Other162162162--
  Postal and courier services(d)12612612711
 Travel2 3572 1372 020- 117- 5
 Other services2 5352 5452 559141
Memorandum item     
 Tourism related services credits(e)2 3582 1392 022- 117- 5

- Nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) 
(a) This component is not seasonally adjusted. 
(b) Passenger transportation services includes agency fees and commissions for air transport. 
(c) In using these seasonally adjusted series, care should be exercised because of the difficulties associated with reliably estimating the seasonal pattern. 
(d) Postal and courier services includes indirect commissions for sea transport. 
(e) For a more detailed explanation of tourism related services, see the Explanatory notes. 

Goods and services debits (imports), seasonally adjusted

Goods debits

(a) Trend series suspended from March 2019

Goods debits (imports) (a), seasonally adjusted
 Jan-21 ($m)Feb-21 ($m)Mar-21 ($m)Feb-21 to Mar-21 ($m)Feb-21 to Mar-21 (%)
Total goods debits-25 953-27 259-28 5781 3195
 General merchandise debits-25 508-26 807-27 5977903
  Consumption goods-9 591-9 914-10 0611471
  Capital goods-6 526-6 587-6 8963095
  Intermediate and other merchandise goods-9 391-10 306-10 6403343
 Non-monetary gold(b)- 445- 452- 981529117

(a) For sign conventions, see the Explanatory notes.
(b) This component is not seasonally adjusted.

Consumption goods

Capital goods

Intermediate and other merchandise goods

Services debits

(a) Trend series suspended from March 2019

Services debits(a), seasonally adjusted
 Jan-21 ($m)Feb-21 ($m)Mar-21 ($m)Feb-21 to Mar-21 ($m)Feb-21 to Mar-21 (%)
Total services debits-4 007-4 101-4 123221
 Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others(b)-----
 Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.(b)- 57- 29- 36724
 Transport-1 126-1 237-1 255181
  Passenger(c)- 53- 60- 60--
  Freight-1 056-1 160-1 179192
  Other(b)- 8- 8- 8--
  Postal and courier services(d)(e)- 8- 9- 8- 1- 11
 Travel- 48- 54- 5512
 Other services-2 775-2 781-2 776- 5-
Memorandum item     
 Tourism related services debits(f)- 102- 113- 11411

- Nil or rounded to zero (including null cells) 
(a) For sign conventions, see the Explanatory Notes. 
(b) This component is not seasonally adjusted. 
(c) Passenger services includes agency fees and commissions for air transport. 
(d) Postal and courier services includes indirect commissions for sea transport. 
(e) In using these seasonally adjusted series, care should be exercised because of the difficulties associated with reliably estimating the seasonal pattern. 
(f) For a more detailed explanation of tourism related services, see the Explanatory notes. 

Supplementary information

Selected commodities

Value adjustments

Revisions

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5368.0.
 

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files
Data files
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